Can you captain Marmoush over Salah? FPL tips and team of the week

BBC Sport FPL tips
[BBC Sport]

This is the first Fantasy Premier League gameweek in a while where I am confident going against Mohamed Salah as captain.

That might seem daft to say if you look at the Egyptian's past seven scores - 16, 13, 8, 12, 14, 6, 15.

But he has only scored in one of his past five matches in all competitions, has been quiet in those fixtures and faces a Merseyside derby - which always has the capacity to turn into a tight game.

Meanwhile, Manchester City face whipping boys Leicester City and, with Erling Haaland almost certainly out, it is a massive chance for their hot new striker Omar Marmoush to bag a hatful.

This would be a slightly easier call if Haaland - who hobbled out of City's FA Cup win at Bournemouth with his ankle in a protective boot - was fit.

Six months ago, nine out of 10 FPL players would have captained Haaland over Salah in this fixture scenario.

So you should back his deputy with confidence - Marmoush had 15 goals in 17 Bundesliga games this season and has scored four in seven league matches for City so far.

The team of the week is selected based on current FPL prices to fit within a £100m budget, as if you were playing a Free Hit.

How did last week's team do?

Lots of one and two-pointers but captain Bruno Fernandes (34 points), Diogo Dalot (11) and contributions from Haaland and Bryan Mbeumo led to a superb 75 points in a blank gameweek.

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FPL team of the week for gameweek 30

Keeper and defence

David Raya, Arsenal, keeper, £5.5m - Fulham (h)

Raya has four clean sheets in his past seven and Arsenal have the second-most clean sheets (11) this season. There could be a few clean sheets knocking about this week and this game is one of them.

Josko Gvardiol, Manchester City, £6m - Leicester City (h)

I know City can't keep a clean sheet this season but surely they will against a Leicester team who have scored in only three of their past 14 matches.

That's awful from the Foxes and Gvardiol could pop up with a goal and give you a 15-pointer.

Ruben Dias, Manchester City, £5.4m - Leicester City (h)

Double Manchester City defence this week for the reasons mentioned above. Dias has started the past three league games and appears to be first choice again.

If we're looking for a cheeky attacking return on top of a likely clean sheet, then Dias feels like the next best bet in City's defence.

No, he hasn't scored in the league in two seasons! But in 2021-22 he had seven attacking returns. There's a time for every drought to end.

Jarell Quansah, Liverpool, £3.9m - Everton (h)

£3.9m for a piece of defence that has kept the most clean sheets this season is a major bargain.

Derby games can go two ways but Liverpool are at home against Everton. They should dominate, will expect to win and could easily keep their rivals out.

Milos Kerkez, Bournemouth, £5.2m - Ipswich (h)

The Hungarian is rolling at the moment with assists in his past three games. No clean sheets in that time but if he can put the two ...

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